Yi-Ban

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

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Users say
(7)

4 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

3 out of 5 stars

Visiting Yi-Ban by public transport can be a disconcerting experience, involving a trip on the DLR to Royal Albert station, then a walk along a deserted road and across a large car park to the first floor of the grey concrete box that is the London Regatta Centre.

Once inside, you’re greeted by a spacious room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows offering striking views across the dock of planes taking off and landing at City Airport. White tablecloths, cream leather chairs and pale wood floors are offset by an ornamental red wall at the far end. There’s an outdoor deck for good weather.

The menu is extensive, with Vietnamese as well as Chinese dishes, a particularly good selection of seafood (including luxe ingredients such as lobster and abalone) and a dozen hotpots including sea cucumber and ‘duck’s web’ (the end of the foot). The dim sum here is well regarded – a beef and bamboo shoot dumpling was light and tasty – and the lengthy menu includes photos, which is useful for novices. But standards can dip: sliced whelks in a mild curry sauce were rubbery, and we were disappointed by the roast duck (from the carte), which was drenched in a sticky orange sauce.

Staff were informed and helpful. Note the restaurant gets very busy at weekends, so it’s wise to book.

This used to be my weekly dim sum place with the odd dinner here and there but it was the first time we had the private room with karaoke. Located by the docks, it's always nice to be around water, but opposite City Airport which was good for us as the planes drowned out our singing. It's a decent sized room and seems sound proof as I couldn't hear our attempts at singing when I left the room. There's just a minimum spend to hire out the room and you can order food and drinks to your heart's content. Food has always been good here and there's a good variety. We ordered so much, there wasn't enough room on the table. The karaoke system wasn't the best and didn't have more recent songs, but it was still good fun. It's completely accessible too and one of the better Chinese restaurants in that part of town.

I visited this restaurant today. The food was very tasty, the toilets were clean, there were many staff members available, food was served on time.
However, as with most Chinese establishments "it works well when it does". There is no management structure to assist you if you see a problem. We were five people. We made the booking a week before and had a confirmation. When we got seated, we asked whether we can sit at the next table. It had the same number of chairs. There were few window tables that were free. The staff said that someone have booked the table a long time ago. I asked what about the other tables. They said they have also been booked. I then said that I too booked a table. I was then told that that table was booked before mine. I then asked how did they know to book a specific table in a restaurant. Then the manager repeated the same "it is booked" dialogue. I could see the lie, however I thought to let the incident pass. Just before we were about to leave, five well dressed people were seated at the table in question. They then asked to move and were moved. I then asked the "lady in-charge" how is it possible for them to move and not us ("I heard them ask"). She told that they needed six chairs and that’s why they were moved. I then asked that the table sizes were the same so why not give the sixth chair to the same table. I then got the "It was booked" answer. I can see the lie. I can only assume that the other group was treated differently because they looked more affluent.
The point is, you can go there, have a half-decent meal, pay a fixed £9.50 service charge and go home. Don't expect anything else (I literally mean anything).

If you're coming for dim sum on the weekend then make sure to get here really early as it fills up pretty quickly. The dim sum is standard fare. The only real stand out dish is the curried whelks. Service is quite abrupt.

Hidden away behind a massive grey concrete building is the best chinese food i've had in London. The atmosphere is very traditional and the staff are very clued up on the food they serve here. With such an array of yummy dishes to try its probably best to order a few different dishes and share. The portions are pretty generous too. It's a great place to visit to watch the planes come into City Airport. Great value for what you get. You wont be disappointed.

Shocked and horrified this restaurant serves shark fun soup. It's inclusion on their menu is both ecologically and morally irresponsible, ultimately contributing to the barbaric death of tens of millions of sharks every year. As a supporter of Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation and it's "Hacked Off" campaign I encourage people NOT to dine here until the restaurant stops serving, and removes, this highly controversial dish from its menu.

Love this restaurant, Great view, Dim Sum, Roasted Duck quality was very fresh and local doesn't like some dim sum restaurants in China town. Their service is good just few waiters not horrible but need to be improve!